


Alone

by HydraHottie



Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Fluff, kinda happy end?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-08-05
Packaged: 2018-02-11 21:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2084301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HydraHottie/pseuds/HydraHottie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After ten years of them both being in isolation, (one by choice and one by imprisonment), it's unsurprising when the conversation runs dry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alone

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic in a really long time so please be kind.

It had been so long and he was so broken.

After breaking out Erik, seeing him again after ten years, it had only become more clear to Charles how much he had lost himself. He had tried, he had, to help other mutants and teach them but… he couldn’t keep preaching about hope and peace after all that had happened. He just wished Erik could understand that.

Unwavering, constant Erik, who hadn’t changed a goddamn bit after being locked up for ten years. Who was now looking over the chessboard at Charles with disdain and disappointment but worse than that, pity and concern.

“Brooding really isn’t a good look on you, Charles.” Erik took on a lighter tone, but it did nothing for the mood.

“And your turtle necks don’t look half as good on you as you think they do, and yet…” The response came easily from Charles, but lacked the amusement that would have been present ten years ago.

Erik huffed, Charles moved one of the pieces on the board, and somewhere behind them Logan snorted in his sleep.

Charles briefly regretted not taking the opportunity to fall back into easy banter with Erik, before remembering that he was still angry with him.

“Charles, I…” He started before tapering off, and sighing.

“What?” 

“How did this happen? How did you give it all up? How come you’re not spouting about peace and hope?” His voice rose with each question.

Charles laughed, a hollow humorless sound. “I’m not doing this for peace or hope, and I wouldn’t have asked for your help with either. I’m doing this for my sister.”

His face grew pained and Erik thought he was about to cry before Charles features hardened into a frown and he spoke again.

“You weren’t the only one who spent the last ten years alone.”

“You had Hank,” Erik offered softly, trying to convince himself more than Charles that he hadn’t taken everything from his old friend.

“Hank missed her almost as much as I did. I missed all of them, and… I missed you.” Charles smiled bitterly at him before taking a drink.

“I missed you too, Charles. And I still seem to be missing you.” Erik did. After meeting Charles he had gained a hint of a conscious, a voice in the back of his head that had, on occasion, been Charles himself. But somewhere in the ten years at the bottom of a concrete cell, the voice had been snuffed. And now Charles was sitting right in front of him and he felt a wave of regret so strong he thought he would vomit.

“The first time I met you, Charles, you told me I wasn’t alone. And here we are meeting again I think I felt less alone when I was in isolation.”

The chess game was all but forgotten as they stared sadly at one another.

“You have to fix this, Charles.”

“Fix what?”

“Yourself. If we’re ever going to stop Raven, you need to find your hope again. And Raven can’t do that, and I can’t do that, as much as I wish I could. You have to fix yourself. Starting with this.” Erik tapped the side of his own temple to make his point.

“I know, old friend.” For the first time since Charles had rescued him from that cold cell, Erik smiled. Old friend didn’t quite put them back where they had been, but it was a start. Charles returned the smile weakly, and the chess game continued once again.

It had been so long and he was so broken. But he began to think that for the first time in that long time, he wasn’t going to be alone. You’re not alone. In fact, you never have to be alone again.


End file.
